Council wins bronze award for fight against discrimination

Inverclyde Council’s work to combat the day-to-day discrimination experienced by LGBT people has been recognised by LGBT Youth Scotland with a bronze level Charter Award.

The council will now work closely with local LGBT group, Clyde Pride, to achieve a silver Charter Award by 2019 and then a gold award by 2020.

LBGT Youth Scotland works to promote equality, rights and inclusion for LGBT people. It is the largest youth and community based organisation for lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender young people in the country.

Councillor Jim Clocherty, Convener of Inverclyde Council’s Education & Communities Committee, said, “Winning this award sends out a positive message that equality and diversity are at the heart of this organisation. The LGBT Charter makes a clear statement that LGBTI employees and customers are safe, supported and included in everything we do.”

Inverclyde Council has also decided to fly the Rainbow Pride Flag on a number of dates to show support for the LGBT community: 1 February to mark the start of LGBT History month; 17 May to mark the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia and the appropriate weekend in July to mark the Pride Weekend celebrations in Glasgow.

The LGBT Charter is a programme that assists organisations to: proactively include LGBTI people in their work, protect their staff and provide high quality services to customers and students. It has been developed to help organisations carry out training, review policies and put resources in place to make sure that they not only meet their legal requirements but are also as inclusive as possible.

The Equality Act 2010 recognised that LGBT people often face discrimination because of prejudice and misunderstanding. It introduced protection for the characteristics of sexual orientation and gender reassignment.

The Act also introduced a duty on public sector organisations to take a proactive approach to addressing the discrimination experienced by all protected groups.

The Equality Act 2010 created nine protected characteristics, which cannot be used as an excuse to victimise people. The protected characteristics are:

  • Age
  • Disability
  • Gender reassignment
  • Marriage and civil partnership
  • Pregnancy and maternity
  • Race
  • Religion or belief
  • Sex
  • Sexual orientation.